Learning

• A relatively permanent change in behavior that is brought about by

experience.
• Types of learning:
• Habituation
• Habituation learning is learning to ignore a repeated stimulus that is neither rewarding
nor harmful.
• Classical conditioning
• Operant conditioning
 Classical Conditioning
• Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which a neutral stimulus
comes to elicit a response after being paired with a stimulus that
naturally brings about that response.
• Developed by Ivan Pavlov
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhqumfpxuzI
Elements of Classical Conditioning
• The neutral stimulus: stimulus that does not naturally lead to the
response we are interested (bell)
• Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): stimulus that naturally brings about a
particular response without having been learned (food)
• Unconditioned response (UCR): A response that is natural and needs
no training (salvation)
• Conditioned stimuli (CS): A formerly neutral stimulus that is paired
with a US and eventually causes the desired response all by itself
• Conditioned response (CR): The learned response to the CS
Classical Conditioning Procedure
Before Conditioning

Bell No
(CS) Response

Food Salivation
(US) (UR)
Classical Conditioning Procedure
During Conditioning

Bell Food
(CS) (US)

Salivation
(UR)
Classical Conditioning Procedure
After Conditioning

Bell Salivation
(CS) (CR)
Applying Conditioning Principles to Human
Behavior
• Emotional responses are likely to be learned through classical
conditioning processes.
• Many phobias are the result of classical conditioning
• John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner (1920) - Case study of “Little Albert”
• Conditioned fear
Extinction
• Extinction occurs when a previously
conditioned response decreases in
frequency and disappears

Spontaneous recovery: Reemergence of an

extinguished conditioned response.
Generalization and Discrimination
Stimulus generalization Stimulus discrimination
• Occurs after a stimulus • Occurs if two stimuli are
has been conditioned to sufficiently distinct from
produce a particular one another
response • Happens such that one
• Stimuli that are similar to evokes a conditioned
the original stimulus response but the other
produce the same does not
response • The ability to differentiate
between stimuli

6-11
Examples
• In the spring the pollen (from the flowers, grass etc) makes Mary
sneeze. Soon she sneezes even when she just sees a flower.

• When John’s father gets drunk he often beats John. Now the smell of
alcohol makes John afraid.

• Smelling a perfume you wore during a great party makes you smile and
feel good.

• Opening a can of pet food with a can opener leads your pet to start
jumping around.
Challenging Basic Assumptions
• John Garcia found that some organisms were biologically prepared to
quickly learn to avoid foods that smelled or tasted like something that
made them sick
• Taste aversion:
• Learned association between the taste of a certain food and a feeling
of nausea or revulsion
• Could even occur when the interval between exposure and sickness was as
long as 8 hours or after just one exposure
• Speed of learning is likely related to survival instincts
Operant Conditioning
• Learning in which an organism’s behavior is followed by a reward or
punishment
• Organism learns to perform behavior in order to gain a reward or
avoid a punishment
Thorndike’s Law of Effect
• Edward Thorndike
– Believed trial-and-error learning was the basis of most behavioral changes
• Trial-and-error
– Learning occurs when a response is associated with a successful solution to a problem after a
number of unsuccessful responses
– Law of effect
• Thorndike’s law of learning, which states that connections between a stimulus and a
response will be strengthened if the response is followed by a satisfying consequence
and weakened if the response is followed by discomfort
In operant conditioning the animal or person must produce some behavior to get a reward

If a response is followed by a reward, the response will be strengthened.

• B. F. Skinner (1904 to 1990)
Ø The Skinner box
The Basics of Operant Conditioning
• Reinforcement
• The process by which a stimulus increases the probability that a preceding
behavior will be repeated.
• Reinforcer: A stimulus or event that follows a behavior and makes that
behavior more likely to occur again.
• Punishment
• The process by which a stimulus decreases the probability that a prior
behavior will occur again.
• Punisher: A stimulus or event that follows a behavior and makes that
behavior less likely to occur again
Reinforcement
ØPositive reinforcer ØNegative reinforcer
– Adds something rewarding – Removes something
following a behavior, unpleasant from the
making that behavior more environment following a
likely to occur again behavior, making that
– Giving penny a cholate for behavior more likely to
being quite occur again
– Giving a dog a treat for – Taking an aspirin to relieve a
fetching a ball headache is an example
Both increase the likelihood that preceding behaviors will be repeated.
 Punishment
• Goal of punishment is to decrease the occurrence of a behavior

Ø Positive punishment - Addition

• Weakens a response through the application of an unpleasant stimulus
Ø Negative punishment - Removal
• Weakens a response though the removal of something pleasant
Both result in a decrease in the likelihood that a prior behavior will be
repeated.
Punishment vs. Reinforcement
• Punishment is not as effective as reinforcement
• Does not teach proper behavior, only suppresses undesirable
behavior
• Causes impairments that can interrupt learning
• May give impression that inflicting pain is acceptable
• Utku is paid 50 tl for every A he brings home on his report card.

• For every A that Tamer receives on his report card, he doesn’t have to wash
dishes for 3 days.

• Every time the dog rolls over, he is rewarded with a treat.

• Berkecan comes home after midnight, and his parents take his car keys away for a
week.

• Laraysu talks back to her mom and is grounded for 3 weeks.

• Başak keeps her room clean and tidy, so that when she needs something, she is
able to find it easily.
• Mrs. Leyla’s students in her kindergarten class receive a gold star every time they
say “Please” when asking for something.

• Fırat’s ball rolls out onto the street and he runs after it. He almost gets hit by a car
but is saved by the driver, who, seeing him run after the ball, brakes just in time.
Fırat’s action upsets his mother, who spanks him for running out recklessly into
the street.

• Ceku and her boyfriend are caught kissing on the front porch after she was told
she wasn’t allowed to kiss boys yet. Her father tells her she isn’t allowed to see
her boyfriend anymore.

• Ecem is speeding because she is late for her morning class. She is pulled over by
the police and receives a 150 tl fine.
Schedules of Reinforcement
Different patterns of frequency and timing of reinforcement following
desired behavior
Continuous reinforcement schedule: Reinforcing of a behavior every
time it occurs
• Vending machine
Partial (intermittent) reinforcement schedule: Reinforcing of a behavior
some but not all of the time
• Slot machine
Schedules of Reinforcement
• Ratio schedules
Reinforcement depends on the number of responses made
– Fixed-ratio schedule
• Reinforcement follows a fixed number of behaviors
• Relatively short pauses in responding
• Exp: being paid on a piecework basis
– Variable-ratio schedule
• Reinforcement follows a variable number of behaviors
• Responding occurs at a high, steady rate
• Exp: playing slot machines
Schedules of Reinforcement
• Interval schedules
Reinforcement depends on the passing of time
– Fixed-interval schedule
• Reinforcement follows the first behavior after a fixed amount of time has
passed
• Typically long pauses in responding after reinforcement
• Exp: receiving a paycheck every two weeks
– Variable-interval schedule
• Reinforcement follows the first behavior after a variable amount of time has
passed
• Responding occurs at a steady rate
• Exp: pop quizzes
Schedule Examples
Fixed ratio: rewards given after fixed Getting a free coffee for every 10 cups that you buy at a local
number of responses coffee house
Magazine subscription offer: buy 11 issues and get the 12th one
for free
Being paid by commission

Variable ratio: rewards given after Gambling (slot machine) is always the best example.
varying number of responses

Fixed interval: rewards given after a Exam is given every Friday in class. Studying occurs on Thursday
fixed period of time night.
A store offers a sale or discount every Saturday.
Weekly paycheck

Variable interval: rewards given after A radio station offers free tickets at some point during the next
varying periods of time hour, but you do not know when the offer will occur.
Discrimination and Generalization
Discrimination in operant conditioning involves learning to distinguish
between a stimulus that has been reinforced and other stimuli that
may be very similar
• Stimulus control training: behavior is reinforced in the presence of a specific
stimulus, but not in its absence
• Discriminative stimulus: signals the likelihood that reinforcement will follow a
response
Generalization in operant conditioning is the tendency to make the
learned response to a stimulus similar to the one for which it was
originally reinforced.
Shaping
Process of teaching a complex behavior by rewarding closer and closer
approximations of the desired behavior
Steps
• Reinforcing any behavior similar to the behavior you want the person to learn
• Next, reinforce only responses closer to the behavior you ultimately want to
teach
• Finally, reinforce only the desired response
 Comparing Classical And Operant Conditioning
Concept Classical Conditioning Operant Conditioning

Basic principle Building associations between a conditioned Reinforcement increases the frequency of the
stimulus and conditioned response. behavior preceding it; punishment decreases the
frequency of the behavior preceding it.

Nature Based on involuntary, natural, innate behavior. Organism voluntarily operates on its environment to
of behavior Behavior is elicited by the unconditioned or produce a desirable result. After behavior occurs,
conditioned stimulus. the likelihood of the behavior occurring again is
increased or decreased by the behavior’s
consequences.
Order of Before conditioning, an unconditioned stimulus Reinforcement leads to an increase in behavior;
events leads to an unconditioned response. After punishment leads to a decrease in behavior.
conditioning, a conditioned stimulus leads to a
conditioned response.
Example After a physician gives a child a series of painful A student who, after studying hard for a test, earns
injections (an unconditioned stimulus) that an A (the positive reinforcer), is more likely to study
produce an emotional reaction (an unconditioned hard in the future. A student who, after going out
response), the child develops an emotional drinking the night before a test, fails the test
reaction (a conditioned response ) whenever he (punishment) is less likely to go out drinking the
sees the physician (the conditioned stimulus). night before the next test.
Response Acquisition
• Classical conditioning • Operant conditioning
– Naturally occurring – Learning process in which
responses are attached desired responses are
to conditioned stimulus followed by reinforcers
by pairing that stimulus – Shaping, reinforcing
with the unconditioned successive
stimulus approximations to a
– Spacing of trials effects target behavior, can
rate of training speed up acquisition
Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery

• Classical conditioning • Operant conditioning

– US and CS are no longer – Extinction occurs when
paired, eliminating the CR reinforcement is stopped,
– Spontaneous recovery eliminating the conditioned
occurs when the CR behavior
temporarily returns – Spontaneous recovery occurs
without additional training when behavior temporarily
returns without additional
training
Generalization and Discrimination
• Classical conditioning • Operant conditioning
– Stimulus generalization – Response generalization
• Organism learns to respond • Stimulus generates similar
to other similar stimuli responses
– Stimulus discrimination – Response discrimination
• Organism learns to respond • Only specific responses are
only to specific stimuli reinforced in the presence of
specific stimuli
Contingencies in Classical and Operant Conditioning
Classical Conditioning Operant Conditioning
• Research has shown that a CS • Behaviors that are reinforced
must provide information about intermittently are more
the US in order for conditioning resistant to extinction
to occur • Most behavior is reinforced
• This predictive relationship with some type of
between the CS and US is intermittent schedule
referred to as a contingency
 Classical or operant conditioning?
• Her father gives a student a credit card at the end of her first
year in college because she did so well. As a result, her
grades continue to get better in her second year.

• An individual receives frequent injections of drugs in a small

room at a hospital. The drug itself causes increased heart
rate. After several trips to the clinic, simply being in a small
room causes an increased heart rate.

• A lion in a circus learns to stand up on a chair and drive a car

to receive food.

• The door to your house makes a loud noise when you open it.
Soon, your dog gets excited as soon as it hears the noise of
the door.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG2SwE_6uVM&t=9s
Cognitive Learning Theory
• Learning that depends on mental activity that is not directly observable
• Involves such processes as attention, expectation, thinking, and
memory
• Learning without reinforcement
• Not enough to say that people respond because there is an assumed link
between a stimulus and a response
• Instead, the idea that people develop an expectation that they will receive a
reinforcer after making a response
Latent Learning
Learning in which a new behavior is not demonstrated until some
incentive is provided for displaying it
• Occurs without reinforcement

• Cognitive map - Mental representation of spatial locations and

directions
Learning by Insight
• The sudden realization of the relationship between elements in a
problem situation, which makes the solution apparent
Observational Learning
Learning by observing the behavior of another person, or model
• Albert Bandura - Social cognitive approach
• Bobo doll study
• Fearless Peer study
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmBqwWlJg8U

Model: The individual who demonstrates a behavior or serves as an example in

observational learning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=128Ts5r9NRE
Observational Learning
– Modeling effect
• Learning a new behavior from a model
– Elicitation effect
• Exhibiting a behavior similar to that of a model in an unfamiliar situation
– Disinhibitory effect
• Displaying a previously suppressed behavior because a model does so
without receiving punishment
– Inhibitory effect
• Suppressing a behavior because a model is punished for displaying the
behavior